Check out here as Lee calms fears of the improv stage audience, tells of how he was sexually abused by a woman on stage, and explains how he’ll guide you through your 15 minutes of fun and fame on stage:
Vienna Würstelstand (VW): Thanks for your time and chatting with us and good luck with the tour.
Lee White (LW): Well, this has been the best interview I’ve ever had. Your insight into improv theatre has really blown me away – it’s amazing.
VW: Was there ever a moment when somebody came on stage and you were like – “shit, I can’t work with this”?
LW: Well, you don’t usually notice you’re in such a moment until you’re in it. Everybody looks a bit weird so you don’t know what they’re like until they start talking. Last time I was in Vienna, a woman came on stage and didn’t say anything for like 5 minutes. Then she started undressing me, taking off my jacket and then somehow she ended up physically abusing me. She was whipping me with the jacket, which had a cell phone it, so it kinda’ hurt.
I’ve done scenes with all sorts of people on stage – shy people, drunk people, brilliant people.
VW: What was your favourite character you’ve ever created in a performance?
LW: I tend to find that audiences remember the characters better than I do. I’ll often show up in town and somebody will say, “hey, you played a doctor last time,” and I’ll be like “yeah well, I kinda’ play a doctor nearly every show.” No that’s not true, but yeah, I like the scenes where I can combine a low status character, like a dumb assistant or something with a high status, intelligent character. The low status character always gets plenty of abuse which seems to make people laugh.
VW: Have you ever gone blank on stage?
LW: Of course, it must be the same thing for you in an interview where you’re like, “I don’t know what to ask this guy,” but you learn what to do in those moments. In the old days I used to get frightened by it, but now I don’t. There’s always going to be around the corner that will inspire me. You start to look for it.
People tend to think improv theater has to be fast and funny, but it doesn’t. It has to be interesting and the ‘funny’ part will come naturally.
VW: What was your first role as an actor? What would be different now if you played the role again?
LW: The first stage production I was involved in was actually Noah’s Ark. I was really lucky though as instead of having to dress up as a zebra or a buffalo, I got to play one of Noah’s sons. I was around 11. Can’t tell you how I’d do it differently, other than I probably just wouldn’t do it. (laughs)
VW: What did you say to her then?
LW: What? Ah, I see what you’re doing. Well, I just said, “you have to trust your heart in this situation and that you’re just over thinking it.”
VW: And what would you say to anybody who’d be scared of getting up on stage with you?
LW: People think they’ll be forced to do something at a performance, but I’m only looking for volunteers. I only want people to stand up on their own. And plenty have the fear that their English won’t be good enough but their English is good enough already if they’re there watching the show.
I’m not there to make fun of them and it’s my fault if a scene is not working. But whoever stands up should be thinking: I haven’t tried this before, Im only going to live once so I’m going to try it.
Adults always forget that they were kids and as kids we’d pretend and imagine everyday.
Everybody knows how to do it, how to pretend. We’ve all pretended to be someone we’re not at sometime or another, and plenty of us still are doing that on a daily basis.
VW: So to start off, tell us about the show.
LW: The show came about from a improv theatre piece being done in Winnipeg by an older improviser. He is a real original act. Young improv actors have a lot of rules they work with so a lot of them criticised this guy for not playing by the rules, but he’d just tell them to go jump in a lake.
The style of this improv theater show is riskier and you’re taking more chances as you’re involving the audience more. Anyway, I ask a member of the audience to come up on stage and perform a scene with me.
VW: What’s it like there?
LW: Here in Seoul, you mean? Haha – this is really confusing. Um, it’s a weird mix of a lot of things. Culturally there are big differences, for example, the bowing and the extreme respect for the elderly. Like if a policeman pulls over a 60-year-old man, the old guy will tell the cop, “fuck off, you’re not giving me a ticket.” And the cop will go, “Ok, but perhaps please stop speeding.”
VW: Where are you on the tour now?
LW: Haha, I’m still in Seoul, South Korea.
VW: Hey Lee, good to have you with us.
LW: What’s your name again? I’m not so sure how this interview’s going to go. I hate to start an interview like this but I have my doubts.
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